UN SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES DONOR COUNTRIES IN OSLO

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday urged the international donor community to continue supporting sustainable development in East Timor beyond its independence next May.

“Helping the East Timorese people has been one of the most formidable responsibilities ever given to the United Nations,” the Secretary-General said at the two-day Donor’s Conference on East Timor currently underway in Oslo, Norway.

“We look to the donor community again today, because of course much remains to be done in East Timor. Institutions are fragile, poverty is widespread, the situation of an estimated 60,000 East Timorese refugees has yet to be resolved. We look to you to help East Timor to achieve its potential for sustainable development,” the Secretary-General said.

UNTAET SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello gave a speech in which he outlined the major steps that have been taken in recent months in transferring power and authority to the all-Timorese Second Transitional Government and in planning for a post-UNTAET successor mission.

The SRSG reiterated the call for the international community to remain engaged in East Timor over the coming years.

“In the remaining months of this transition and, most importantly, in the critical years of consolidation post-independence, I hope that East Timor can depend on the continuing support of the international community and that the strategic vision which East Timor determines for its development future will guide your continuing engagement,” the SRSG said.

The countries participating in the two-day conference are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States.

RE-BUILT MOSQUE INAUGURATED IN BAUCAU

Deputy SRSG Dennis McNamara today attended an inauguration of the rehabilitated Baucau mosque that was destroyed in March during a series of violent incidents.

“To the representatives of the Muslim community I would underline that this ceremony marks the commitment of the local Administration, the Transitional Government, and the broader international community, that the wrongs visited on you last March, and the violation of your place of worship, will not be tolerated in the future,” McNamara said.

Bishop of Baucau Basilio Nascimento, and the Malaysian and Portuguese ambassadors were among those that attended the ceremony.

Malaysia financed the bulk of the reconstruction project with a US$60,000 donation. Portugal donated US$5,000 and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force raised US$3,500 from its members.

The rehabilitation work was initiated in September, and the Mosque became functional early this month. The Moslem community in Baucau had asked that the mosque be formally inaugurated before the end of Ramadan, which finishes on Monday.

PHILIPPINE BATTALION MARKS STAND DOWN FROM MANATUTO

The Philippine battalion said farewell to the people of Manatuto district today ahead of their departure from East Timor later this week.

“During this past two years or more, the Philippines contingent has drawn universal praise for its contribution to the mission and to the peace and security of the people of East Timor,” Deputy SRSG Dennis McNamara said at the stand down ceremony held in Manatuto town.

“PHILLBATT’s community support endeavours, especially in the areas of education and agriculture, are well known, as is their support to the medical and dentistry needs of the district,” McNamara added.

The Philippine battalion first came to Manatuto district in September 1999 and has been based there ever since. The 520 Philippine troops will hand over operations to the Portuguese battalion headquartered in Dili, and return to the Philippines, without replacement, on Friday.

This is the second in a series of scheduled UNTAET downsizing moves that will reduce the current authorized level of 8,000 international troops to around 5,000 by East Timor’s independence on 20 May, 2002.

As a farewell gift the battalion last week handed over a newly constructed children’s playground to the people of the district.

EAST TIMOR’S FIRST UN VOLUNTEER HEADS ON OVERSEAS MISSION

An UNTAET local staff member is about to become the first East Timorese national to represent his newly forming country by serving the United Nations as a UN volunteer in the Congo.

Claudio Magno, 29, has been working for the past two years as an Electronic Data Processing assistant in UNTAET’s Transport Section.

Magno will leave East Timor tomorrow for Kinshasa where he will join the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission, MONUC, as a Vehicle Inventory Assistant.